New Hampshire Military Records Research Guide

American military heritage in New Hampshire started with the organization of the colonial militia beginning in the 17th century primarily to battle to prevent assaults from native inhabitants. The applications and importance of New Hampshire military records in genealogical research for ancestors who have been veterans are obvious but New Hampshire military records can also be crucial to researchers whose primary ancestors were not soldiers in any war. Due to the amount of genealogical information and facts contained in quite a few New Hampshire military pension documents they ought to never be disregarded during the research process.

Often, New Hampshire men enrolled in the military along with their neighbors and did so near their homes. So, military lists can provide a lot of information about the migration patterns of certain groups or individuals. There are three published collections that contain the complete service records for all New Hampshire resides from colonial times until the End of the Civil War. Researchers should also consult the Civil War enlistment paper records on microfiche at the New Hampshire Records and Archives. Copies of those records can also be found at the New England Historic Genealogical Society

Any New Hampshire residents who received pensions, no matter where they resided, are listed in a 71-volume collection of abstracts and indexes at the New Hampshire Historical Society. The New England Historic Genealogical Society has a microfilmed copy of those volumes and an index to them on file. Microfilmed copies can also be found at the New England Branch of the National Archives, which is located in Waltham, Massachusetts. However, he originals can be found at the National Archives in Washington D.C.

Inhabitants of New Hampshire, 1776 – In 1776, at the outset of the American Revolution, the New Hampshire Committee of Safety directed that all males over the age of twenty-one sign the Association Test–a kind of loyalty oath to the Patriot cause. In effect this resulted in a unique census of the adult male population inasmuch as the names of both signers and non-signers were recorded, and it is the most comprehensive list of New Hampshire residents available before the Census of 1790. Previously available in two separate, unindexed booklets, the present publication has placed all the names–well over 9,000–in one alphabetical sequence to enable the researcher to find a person and his town of residence at a glance.

U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 – This database contains an index to compiled service records (CSRs) for soldiers who served with units in the Confederate army. Most of the men whose names appear in this index served with units from 15 different states or territories; others were soldiers raised directly by the Confederate government, generals and staff officers, and other enlisted men not associated with a regiment. Compiled service records are files of cards that abstract original military records relating to an individual soldier. A typical CSR will include an envelope that lists a soldier’s name, rank, unit, and card numbers, followed by cards with details extracted from muster rolls, rosters, hospital rolls, Union prison records, payrolls, and other records, with a new card being created each time a soldier’s name appeared on a new document. The CSRs may also include original documents pertaining to the soldier. The CSRs do not constitute an exhaustive list of all men who served in the Confederate army.